pongara-descripiton : Protected Areas in the Congo Basin: Failing both people and biodiversity?

Country: Gabon

Type and IUCN Category: National park (IUCN category: II). RAMSAR site: 2007

Size (hectares): 92,900

Date of creation: 30 August 2002

CARPE landscape: Not part of a CARPE landscape

Management plan: No comprehensive management plan is currently available.

Local communities: There are approximately 500 people living in and around Pongara NP (Sounguet 2011: 1).

Administration: The park is administered by the Agence Nationale de Parcs Nationaux (ANPN). Conservation and tourism activities have been supported by various organisations, including the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Aventures sans Frontières (RAPAC 2009 11-18). The conservation objectives include the conservation of key species, the preservation of historical heritage and the development of eco-tourism, in collaboration with local communities and other actors.

Biodiversity information: Pongara National Park is a wide and diverse mangrove ecosystem. It is a key leatherback turtle nesting area; approximately 1,800 to 2,000 leatherback nests are laid annually on a 5 km stretch of beach in the northernmost area of the park (Deem et al. 2007). A wealth of species are present in the park including forest elephants, buffalos, panthers and manatees (RAPAC 2009).

Neighbouring and overlapping extractive industries (Mapping for Rights):

Three logging concessions border Pongara National Park:

(1) concession 01-002 (managed by Industrie Forestiere du Komo (IFK) [France] since 1999),
(2) concession 01-022 (managed by Forestiere des Bois d’Azingo [France] since 2005), and
(3) concession 01-045 (managed by Honest Timber Gabon (HTG) [China] since 2007).

There is one mining permit overlapping the park (managed by BHP since 2007).

Six oil permits also overlap with the park, those being permits KENGUERIE MARIN, BT99, EX-OZOUMBELE, CT99, ET99, and DT99.

Information available on funding

(Please note that some of these grants may be covering several protected areas or landscapes.)

Monitoring of landscape alteration and assessing risk of forest ecosystem degradation through remote sensing and data spatialisation (Suivi des Modifications du milieu et diagnostic du risque de dégradation des écosystèmes forestiers par télédétection et spatialisation d’indicateurs) (2012-2013)
Funder: French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) through the GEOFORAFRI programme
Objective: Characterise changes in forest ecosystems, identify and map potential causes of degradation and develop indicators to monitor evolutions.
Grant manager: Mapping and graphics laboratory, Omar Bongo University (Laboratoire de Graphique et de Cartographie, LAGRAC)
Funds: €24,390 (Specific amount dedicated to Pongara unknown)

Including small-scale logging permits into the sustainable development dynamic in Gabon (Extension aux petits permis forestiers de la dynamique d’aménagement durable au Gabon) (2007 – 2012)
Funders: French Development Agency (Agence Francaise de Développement, AFD); logging companies; FFEM; Gabon government
Objective: Develop sustainable forest management through small-scale logging permits.
Grant manager: Gabonese Ministry of Environment, General Division for Water and Forests (DGEF)
Funds: €14,500,000 (AFD: €9,800,000; Logging companies: €2,385,000; FFEM: €2,000,000; Gabon government: €316,000) (Specific amount dedicated to Pongara unknown)

Enabling effective community participation in the management of national parks in Gabon (2010 – 2012)
Funders: FFEM, Rainforest Fund, others
Objective: To work with at least 20 communities to involve them in park management, with a particular focus on their roles within the management structure and their use rights
Grant manager: Brainforest
Funds: €91,900 (FFEM: €40,000; Rainforest Fund: €23,000) (Specific amount dedicated to Pongara unknown)

Reducing human-induced pressures on leatherback turtle nesting beaches in Pongara (Réduction des pressions anthropiques sur les plages de ponte de tortues luths à Pongara) (2006 – 2009)
Funders: FFEM; others
Objective: Conservation of sea turtles in Pongara National Park
Grant manager: Aventures sans Frontières
Funds: €67,712 (FFEM: €40.000)